# Equivalents in other languages of "Eagle-Eyed" (someone with sharp vision)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 2, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964 "2026-04-02T12:58:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@LAphofol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAphofol)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/1 "2026-04-02T12:58:31Z")
Hi everyone,
I’m new to this forum, which I discovered while wandering around the Internet looking for equivalents of French idioms.
I actually came across this thread, which helped me find equivalents in many other languages for the idiom “poule mouillée” (coward/chicken): [Non-English Colloquialisms For A Chicken (someone who is fearful/easily frightened)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948)
That convinced me that the best way to discover equivalent idioms in other languages was to join this forum.
A little about me:
I’m a French photographer with a passion for LEGO minifigures, miniatures, and wordplay.
When I combine all those interests, I get my favorite project: photographing French idioms using LEGO figurines in creative scenes.
I use these photos to make people guess which idiom the image represents.
Since I believe we learn best when having fun, I also share short notes about the origins of each idiom and try to provide equivalents in other languages.
I’m fairly comfortable in English and Spanish, so I can do some research in those languages, but I’m not always confident when it comes to checking equivalents in others.
So I’d love for you to help me find equivalents of the following idiom in your own language.
Let’s start with this one:
“Avoir des yeux de lynx” (literally “to have lynx eyes”), equivalent to “eagle-eyed” in English — meaning to have very sharp vision or a keen eye for detail.
What are the equivalents in your languages?
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/2 "2026-04-02T13:21:44Z")
The Greek phrase is oφθαλμοί Λυγκέως (ofthalmoi Lynceus), which means “eyes of Lynceus”.
In Greek mythology, Lynceus was one of the Argonauts and had famously good vision. He could see through walls, tree, the ground, etc. Lynceus served as the lookout on the Argo (Jason and the Argonaut’s ship).
> **[Lynceus (son of Aphareus)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynceus_(son_of_Aphareus))**
>
> Lynceus (/ˈlɪnsiːəs, -sjuːs/; Ancient Greek: Λυγκεύς, romanized: Lunkeús, lit. 'lynx-like') is in Greek mythology a Messenian prince and one of the Argonauts who served as a lookout on the Argo. He also participated in the hunt for the Calydonian boar.
> Lynceus was a son of Aphareus and Arene or Polydora or Laocoosa, and thus brother to Idas and Peisus.
> Lynceus, along with his brother Idas, murdered Castor. He helped Idas to spot and kill Castor, and was in turn killed by Castor's brother Pollu...
In many different European countries, confusion over the name Lynceus and the animal “lynx” led to the phrase being corrupted as having the “eyes of a lynx”.
Google’s bullshit generator lists these as the equivalent in other European languages:
- **French:** _Avoir un œil de lynx_ (to have an eye of a lynx)
- **Spanish:** _Tener ojos de lince_ (to have eyes of a lynx)
- **Italian:** _Occhi di lince_ (eyes of a lynx)
- **German:** _Scharfsichtig_ (sharp-sighted) or _luchsaugen_
- **Portuguese:** _Olhos de lince_
- **Dutch:** _Lynx-ogig_ (lynx-eyed)
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### Author:  [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/3 "2026-04-02T13:24:21Z")
Dutch would be _haviksogen_ (hawk’s eyes), certainly not lynx.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/4 "2026-04-02T13:53:44Z")
> [@LAphofol](#):
>
> When I combine all those interests, I get my favorite project: photographing French idioms using LEGO figurines in creative scenes.
> I use these photos to make people guess which idiom the image represents.
This is very clever and fun, good job.
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### Author:  [@LAphofol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAphofol)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/5 "2026-04-02T14:09:33Z")
Thanks a lot, French Lynx is also derivated from Lynceus the Argonaut.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/6 "2026-04-02T15:02:10Z")
In Welsh it’s _llygad barcud_, kite’s eye (the bird, not the toy).
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### Author:  [@LAphofol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAphofol)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/7 "2026-04-02T18:05:29Z")
Thanks again, these answers are precious to me
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### Author:  [@LAphofol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAphofol)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/8 "2026-04-02T18:07:07Z")
I’ll show you some when i’ll no longer be a new user (can not upload photo)
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/9 "2026-04-02T20:05:12Z")
Nobody can upload photos. That’s disabled.
What you (and everyone else) can do is upload your photos to any image sharing site, make sure your security settings there are configured so anyone can see the pic, then include the url of the pic in your post here.
Imgur has recently decided to not allow non-US people to see pix posted there, so most of us have switched to using ImgBB.
See here for more:
> [@How to embed pictures from imgur](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-embed-pictures-from-imgur/1021580):
>
> Help! For years I’ve been able to do this nicely, but recent SW changes here and/or in imgur have changed things. Example: I have 2 pictures in an imgur post and I want to show them. I tried it and got two separate URLs from imgur, but it’s not showing the images. Instead, either the first image is repeated or only the URL text is displayed. How do I do this? To see the second image that I want you have to select the URL and scroll down to it, which of course is not desirable. I’m almost alwa…
The thread is titled about Imgur, but ends up treating other hosting sites too.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/10 "2026-04-02T20:50:36Z")
In German, it’s also “Adlerauge”, the direct translation of “eagle’s eye”. But there’s also a saying “Augen wie ein Luchs”, “eyes like a lynx”.
Btw., shouldn’t it be “ears like a lynx”? They’re famous for those little brushes at the top of their ears, after all.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/11 "2026-04-02T21:20:57Z")
“Eyes like a lynx” also existed in American English at least as far back as the 1700s, although it started fading from usage in the early 20th century.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/12 "2026-04-02T21:21:46Z")
That sounds like a question for @Pardel-Lux .
But cats in general are at least somewhat associated with sharp vision, even in English. Just, not as sharp as eagles.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/13 "2026-04-02T21:32:42Z")
Maybe low-light vision. Otherwise, it surely seems like cats see much worse than, say, humans.
Cat-like reflexes, cat-like hearing, smelling, yes, but cat-like vision?
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/14 "2026-04-02T21:42:50Z")
Thanks for leading me to this thread, that is indeed something I like, not to mention my avatar and my name. I will put it in “Watching” and keep a lynx’ eye on it, but the main question has already been correctly answered by **engineer\_comp\_geek** (for the languages I know, he has been corrected for Dutch) and by **EinsteinsHund**. Slight nitpick for **engineer** : where he claims that in Spanish we say _Tener ojos de lince_ (to have eyes of a lynx) the expression I know is rather _tener vista de lince_ (to have a lynx’ vision).
> [@EinsteinsHund](#):
>
> Btw., shouldn’t it be “ears like a lynx”? They’re famous for those little brushes at the top of their ears, after all.
Expressions are very often related to vision, but seldom to hearing. I can’t think of any expression in German about hearing, can you? _Ein Gehör wie… ja, wie was?_ I can’t think of a Spanish example either. And English? He has the hearing of a … a what? Smelling? Like a dog, a sleuth, a truffle pig. Tick ✅ Taste? More difficult, but we at least have _bocatto di cardinale_ in Spanish (which is dog’s Italian, Italians don’t like it).
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/15 "2026-04-02T21:46:56Z")
> [@LAphofol](#):
>
> I get my favorite project: photographing French idioms using LEGO figurines in creative scenes.
> I use these photos to make people guess which idiom the image represents.
Oh boy, I love the sound of that. Is this poster allowed to post a link to their website?
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/16 "2026-04-02T21:48:43Z")
He can always put it in his profile, that is foreseen. There is a field for it, so it can’t be forbidden.
Of course that will blow up his anonymity, but that’s up to him.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/17 "2026-04-02T21:53:36Z")
Dogs are almost always the animal associated with a good sense of smell (maybe also sharks, but scent in the water isn’t really the same thing as scent in air), and they have at least some association with hearing (see, for instance, a “dog whistle”, which only dogs (and a lot of other animals that don’t get in the metaphor) can hear). I suppose that if I were to associate any animal with especially sharp hearing, though, it’d be a bat? But you’re right that there don’t seem to be as many animal metaphors for hearing as for other senses.
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/18 "2026-04-02T22:19:35Z")
Very good assuming that bats have one of the best hearing senses we know of, but the problem is: since when do we know it? Linguistic expressions tend to be ancient or ephemeral fads. Hearing like a bat does not fit into either category:
> **[Early milestones in the understanding of echolocation in bats - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29687162/)**
>
> Almost 80 years ago, Griffin and Galambos discovered the phenomenon of echolocation in bats. Since then, the field has grown exponentially as new generations of investigators have joined the chase and technological advances have revolutionized...
Eighty years is nothing! But too long for a fad.
Of course I don’t want to negate Lazzaro Spallanzani’s much earlier contribution to this field, despite his surgically removing the eyes of a bat to prove that it did not rely on vision to fly is something which we might anachronistically (ha! your nick fits in this thread too!) describe as animal cruelty today. This is the relevant section of his wikiarticle:
> **[Lazzaro Spallanzani | Echolocation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazzaro_Spallanzani#Echolocation)**
>
> Spallanzani is also famous for extensive experiments in 1793 on how bats could fly at night to detect objects (including prey) and avoid obstacles, where he concluded that bats do not use their eyes for navigation, but some other sense. He was originally inspired by his observation that tamed barn owl flew properly at night under a dim-lit candle, but struck against the wall when the candle was put out. He managed to capture three wild bats in Scandiano, and performed a similar experiment
Back to the main point: our metaphors skew heavily towards vision. No taste, some smell, can’t think of any hearing (but there should be!), and no sense of touch at all, can’t even imagine where to start with that, apart from the _Mimose_ (German) or _mimosa_ (Spanish) or _**[Mimosa pudica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica)**_ (Latin). English? Well, it is not even an animal, but only a plant. Irrelevant.
The dog whistle was a good idea too, but that we also only know since we are aware of ultrasounds, which is probably related to microphones and recording, so I guess not much more than a century. If I had to choose whether we know of ultrasounds longer that UV and / or IR or not I would guess UV and IR were discovered first. But electromagnetic radiation in turn is your field of expertise, so I suppose you are going to correct me again.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/19 "2026-04-02T22:19:59Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> “Eyes like a lynx” also existed in American English at least as far back as the 1700s, although it started fading from usage in the early 20th century.
And “eyes like a hawk” is also an English phrase.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2026, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equivalents-in-other-languages-of-eagle-eyed-someone-with-sharp-vision/1028964/20 "2026-04-02T22:27:16Z")
I think that dog whistles, themselves, have existed for more than a century. And it probably wasn’t hard to extrapolate the existence of ultrasound, since even among humans, the range of audible frequencies varies. If I can hear high-pitched sounds that Grandpa can’t, then maybe someone (or something) with really good hearing can hear even higher-pitched sounds that I can’t.
But for what it’s worth, infrared was discovered in 1800, and ultraviolet the next year. In both cases, it was produced by a prism in sunlight (which also produces invisible bands in addition to the visible colors), for infrared, via a thermometer, and for ultraviolet, via the chemicals used in photographic film.
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